The pilot was killed Wednesday morning when a single-engine LabCorp plane crashed into an empty field at the Mayco Bigelow Community Center on Sharpe Road in Burlington.

Police said the pilot was David Gamble, 57, of Greensboro. No other injuries were reported.

The cause of the crash, which happened shortly before 6 a.m. has not been determined. Federal investigators began combing the debris-ridden site Wednesday afternoon.

Calls about the crash began pouring in to Alamance County Emergency Communications at 5:57 a.m. The plane apparently had just taken off from Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport.

Residents described waking to a noise they first thought was the sound of drivers racing on Sharpe Road.

“I heard a ‘V-r-o-o-o-m! V-r-o-o-o-m!’” said Deloris Burrell, who lives across from the ballfield. “The first thing I thought was, ‘Why is someone racing their car at 5:30 in the morning?’ ”

She said she hurried from her bedroom to the living room and looked out the front door. Burrell said she saw the plane moments before it hit — appearing to struggle to gain altitude. She said she was initially confused — unable to tell if the aircraft was a plane or helicopter.

Burrell said there was a mighty explosion as the plane hit and burst into flames. She said the explosion lit up the ballpark and surrounding neighborhood.

Burrell and several neighbors quickly ran to the crash site to try and help survivors. There were none. Burrell said she saw no sign of the pilot.

“It just burned,” she said of the wreckage. “It just engulfed and burned.”

Burrell and others are hailing the pilot they’ll never meet as a hero. They said they believe the plane was experiencing engine problems and the racing noise they heard was the sound of him revving the motor as he searched for an open place to set down the aircraft.

There are numerous houses and apartments in the area.

“I guess he was trying to find an open field,” Burrell said. “I feel he saw that open space and he landed over there. He could very well have dropped any place.”

“I can’t say he intentionally put down where he did, but it sure looks like he did,” he said.

Verdeck said the plane approached the ballfield from the northwest. It struck some of the fencing at the field, but appeared to hit nothing else.

The aircraft was a single-engine turbo prop, a Pilatus PC12/45 IFR, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The smell of jet fuel was evident around the crash site, which littered much of the softball field east of the community center. A large area was roped off by police tape. Investigators said the plane may have been carrying as much as 400 gallons of aircraft fuel.

Verdeck said investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration were expected by mid-day. Burlington Police, Burlington Fire, Alamance EMS and rescue, and LabCorp representatives were at the site, as were a number of troopers from the N.C. Highway Patrol.

Brothers Dylan and Elmore James live with their mother, Dorothy, across from the park. They were getting ready for work at the time of the crash and said much the same as Burrell — that the first thing they heard was the revving of a motor and assumed it was the sound of cars racing on Sharpe Road.

Dylan described the crash as, “The loudest noise I ever heard.

“It was crazy, man, just crazy,” he continued.

He and Elmore and their mother were among the first to run to the crash site.

“We were hoping to pull survivors out of the rubble,” Elmore said.

What they found were flames and debris, but little else.

The Jameses said had the crash happened at another time of year, there may have been more fatalities. There’s a track around the park and they said it’s not unusual for walkers to be out even that early.

Elmore agreed the pilot likely saved lives.

“I think he saw the houses and was trying to land somewhere else,” he said.

John Ransom lives about two blocks from the crash site. He described the sound that preceded the crash the same as others.

“It sounded like the plane was in stress,” Ransom said. “It sounded like he was circling, trying to find a place to land. The next thing I know, I heard a big crash.”

LabCorp released a statement pertaining to the crash.

“This is a tragedy for the whole LabCorp family,” it reads. “Our hearts are heavy today, and we are grieving along with the family and friends of this valued employee. We are reaching out to the family to offer our support, and will continue to do so.”

A recording of the calls pertaining to the crash placed to 911 can be heard on the Times-News website. Several of the early callers had trouble pinpointing the location of the crash. At least two of the first calls reported it appeared the plane had crashed in downtown Burlington. One caller reported the area as: “Between (U.S.) 70 and (Interstate) 40, in that area.”

Another caller said he, “Witnessed the plane start to circle, circle” before “the sky turned red.

“I can’t believe I just witnessed this,” the caller continued.

The plane belongs to Burlington-based LabCorp, one of the largest medical-testing companies in the United States. The aircraft left Alamance-Burlington Regional Airport and was headed to the MMU Airport in Morristown, N.J. The plane was carrying inter-office LabCorp mail.

Verdeck said the plane’s debris should be removed from the field by Thursday afternoon.